Max has enjoyed learning about the science of biology ever since he learned about the history of life on Earth in elementary school. As he began college, his interest in the biological sciences developed into a fascination with the worlds of cellular and molecular biology. Max was amazed to find that studying such small-scale processes had such broad-based applications in pure science, medicine, product manufacturing, environmental studies—in short, a variety of fields with many possibilities, all stemming from the study of life’s smallest units. Seeking to improve his skills in these fields and utilize them in applied research, Max joined the Biotechnology Program at CCSF just as he entered college. Max spent part of his first year taking in-person biotechnology classes, then the next two years in online and hybrid classes due to the coronavirus pandemic. Through it all, he developed a particular interest in the biotechnological applications of cell culture—an interest that he was able to hone through some partially hands-on classes. In the spring of 2023, Max took the opportunity to participate in the Bioscience internship program. 

Max completed his internship at the DeGrado Lab at UCSF, under the guidance of A. Katherine Hatstat, PhD. The lab’s work focused on designing de novo transmembrane signal transduction proteins with varying subunit structures, then studying how these protein structures affected the bioenergetic characteristics of these proteins’ intermolecular signaling. Max’s work consisted of expressing zinc-binding proteins in E. coli, purifying the proteins from the bacteria, and then assaying the proteins’ ability to bind zinc in order to determine their ability to act as sensor domains within de novo signaling proteins. To do this, Max utilized bacterial cell culture techniques to grow transformed E. coli, nickel affinity chromatography using gravity columns to purify the protein of interest, and SDS-PAGE and Western blotting to visualize the protein of interest. Further post-purification work involved protease digestion to isolate the protein of interest from a larger complex, and spectrophotometric assays to measure zinc-protein binding.                     

After Max completes the biotechnology program at CCSF, he will apply what he’s learned to further undergraduate and graduate studies in the biological sciences. He expects to put his skills that he’s honed as an intern to good use as a biotechnological laboratory technician in a government, academic, or industrial biology research lab—or perhaps even to go into the biotechnology business for himself.